Genesee County residents asked to participate in a community health survey

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Almost 2,000 Genesee County residents are being asked to participate in a community health survey.

The survey, called the 2013 Speak to Your Health! Community Survey, is sponsored by the Prevention Research Center of Michigan (PRC/MI) and the Genesee County Health Department and would talk about the resident's health and the health of their community.

The goal is to get about 1,800 adults to complete the survey, which asks participants about a variety of health issues, including their own health and behaviors as well as their access to health care and neighborhood conditions.

Daniel Kruger, a research professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, works for the PRC/MI and is the principal investigator for the 2013 survey.

Kruger also led the survey efforts in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011. According to Kruger, Genesee County is one of very few counties across the country that has high-quality data at the neighborhood level on health status, health behaviors, health attitudes and health access.

"These data have been vitally important to the Health Department and to other Genesee County health-related agencies as they plan their work, set policy, seek funding for health programming, and measure the effectiveness of their work to improve health in the community," Kruger said in a written statement.

This is the sixth time that the survey is being conducted in an ongoing effort to monitor the health of Flint and Genesee County residents, a press release stated.

This year, Genesee County residents will have three ways they may participate in the survey: through face-to-face interviews, a copy sent by mail to randomly selected households and an online version of the survey available on the Genesee County Health Department's website.

The Genesee County Health Department encourages everyone to participate in the survey. Those interested in completing the online survey can visit www.gchd.us and click on the Speak To Your Health! Community Survey located on the left side of the home page or place www.research.net/s/SPEAKsurvey in your browser to connect to the survey directly.

Results of earlier surveys are available at http://www.sph.umich.edu/prc or by calling the Genesee County Health Department at 810-768-7970. Results of the 2013 survey will be available in the fall of 2014.